NSW coal licences raise storm of protest

The NSW government’s decision to renew two controversial coal exploration licences in the Liverpool Plains area has raised a storm of protest, despite the tougher conditions attached to one of the licences.

Greens NSW mining spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said the renewal of Shenhua Watermark Coal’s licence and BHP Billiton’s Caroona licence, both in the Gunnedah Basin, “means our precious water resources and prime agricultural areas are a step closer to disaster".

“It’s taken barely six months and the O’Farrell government has already caved into the mining industry," Mr Buckingham said on Friday in a statement.

Under the announcement from NSW Resources and Energy minister Chris Hartcher, the new conditions attached to the licences prohibit any open-cut mining or longwall mining on or under the flood plains and the black soil of the Liverpool Plains.

The two licences have been at the core of bitter divisions between farmers and mining companies operating in the prime agricultural region of the Liverpool Plains.

The Caroona Coal Action Group, which is leading a campaign against mining on the Liverpool Plains, is also unhappy about the renewals. Tim Duddy, a spokesman for the group, said the government should have completed full scientific work on the potential impacts on land and water supply from mining before renewing any licences.

“No one knows whether co-existence [of mining and agriculture] is possible," he said. “They can’t simply assume that because the state is short of money and they want the coal royalties."

Mr Duddy said it also was still unclear exactly how the flood plains had been set aside from the licences.

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Mr Buckingham said that renewing the exploration licences before the completion of the Namoi water study “shows the government’s disregard for protecting our precious water systems and agricultural land".

“These renewals pre-empt the government’s own strategic regional land use planning process, a key election commitment designed to address the increasing land use conflict between mining and agriculture," he said.